


The Gaps Between Spaces

by NeitherNora



Category: Protean City Comics (Podcast)
Genre: F/F, Fear powers are wild yall, Fluff, Gender Dysphoria, Ghost Date, Mild Gore, Vomiting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-02
Updated: 2018-02-02
Packaged: 2019-03-12 15:57:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,447
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13550685
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NeitherNora/pseuds/NeitherNora
Summary: Casey and Reggie spend an evening in the park.





	The Gaps Between Spaces

Casey and Reggie sat under a sky of blazing gold as the sun began its final descent. The Protean City Community Park was mostly empty, which was why they could sit there unmolested. Casey had no doubt that if a cape spotted them, there'd be some trouble.

Casey exhaled, spewing a tiny cloud of smoke with a sigh as she flicked the dying cigarette between her fingers. It was Reggie who broke the silence, and her voice startled Casey.

"You're bored."

Casey flinched. "N-no, no. I'm just...waiting."

"Sorry, if you want to do something else..."

"No!"

Casey winced at her own voice, inwardly screaming at her overenthusiasm.

Reggie sat completely still, bone white veil drifting in the faint breeze. "It'll be here, I promise."

Casey scratched idly at the back of her head. "Sunset, right? Why sunset?"

"It's a transitional period. There are cosmic forces aligned to day and night. Forces that mingle, overlap, shift. Tonight, there's a...hole. A gap between spaces."

"So like...ghosts? You said ghosts before."

"Ghosts are...a good metaphor for it. Though 'echoes' might be more apt."

The breeze was turning chill, and Casey wished she were sitting closer to Reggie. But she'd insisted on a gap in the bench. It wasn't the first time Casey had cursed that gap.

The sun sank below the horizon. Nothing happened. Casey waited, not even realizing she was holding her breath, but...nothing.

Then she noticed the fog. It carpeted the grass, and hung as still as Reggie, like a phantom snowdrift. The air began to shimmer. In the center of the park, a hazy form emerged. A gazebo, some benches, even a small, simple playground.

Casey gasped as the children appeared. Young children sat in swings, pushed by formless adult shapes. They ran in circles, climbed ghostly trees, and walked by false creeks.

In the distance, Casey could faintly hear their screams. Wispy, dainty things like a car radio she hadn't turned all the way down. They laughed and shouted and chattered amongst themselves. A few of them even had dogs, and played fetch with invisible sticks.

"...wow..." she breathed.

"Wild, huh?"

She nearly leaped from the bench at the sound of the unfamiliar voice. Sitting next to her, in the center of the bench, was a new person. Maybe a year or two younger than herself, the youth wore a simple hoodie and jeans.

"Fuck's sake," she nearly yelled at them. "Who the hell are you?"

Reggie hadn't reacted, except to lean away from the newcomer. Casey could see the blood start to drip from her fingertips. This person, whoever they were, was invading her personal space.

But they stood, immediately taking a few steps away from the bench.

"Uh...well, let me think. You don't know me, yeah?"

She shook her head.

"Well then, call me Fracture."

Casey blinked. "What the hell do you want?"

She felt anger sparked from anxiety flare up in her chest, and she shoved it back down.

"Hey Reggie," they said, giving a brief wave. "Sorry to interrupt. I am interrupting, yeah?"

"I was hoping you'd be more subtle this time."

Casey turned to Reggie, struck by the smile in her voice.

"What's going on?"

Reggie smoothed her skirt. "I told you, gaps between spaces. Sometimes they're not just windows, but doors. You never know what will fall out."

Fracture checked their watch. "I'll let y'all have your moment, yeah? Catch you next month, Reggie."

"Later."

And with that, Fracture walked away, into the mists.

Casey turned back to Reggie, and nearly gasped. The fog had reached their feet, and in the dying sunset she could see another girl sitting on the bench exactly where Reggie was. She was the same size, and mirrored Reggie's movements exactly. She had black hair in a ponytail, and was watching the children play just as Reggie was. It was almost as if Reggie's veil had become transparent.

Then they both turned, caught Casey's eye. She flinched, wrenching her eyes away to watch the ghost kids as she felt her cheeks grow red.

"Sorry," said Reggie. "I'm sorry."

Casey turned back to her, saw her looking down at her feet.

"What? Why?"

"You're uncomfortable."

She rolled that over in her head. "...a little, but...not in a bad way? It's a lot. You know?"

Reggie nodded. "You're seeing an echo of me, probably. What I might look like in another world."

Casey found herself smiling. It really was adorable how Reggie's confidence swelled while she was explaining something.

"She's cute."

She immediately regretted saying it. Reggie nodded sadly and looked away, and Casey felt a stab of guilt.

"Well I mean, that's not to say you're not cute now."

"I'm not."

They sat in silence for a moment, surrounded by the ethereal mists of the Protean City Community Park. 

"...well, I like you."

She refused to look at Reggie, hoping that her embarrassment wasn't visible. It probably was. Reggie was very perceptive.

"I should clarify that, since tomorrow is Valentine's Day. I really like you, Reggie. I do think you're cute. Or, attractive? I dunno, you don't seem interested in typically feminine compliments so I don't want to make you uncomfortable but I really like you and I wanted, like, to tell you that because tomorrow is Valentine's Day and I wanted to get you a card but I didn't have any money and-"

Casey stopped herself, stomach knotted in fear. Reggie stood, dress flowing like water around her, and walked away.

"...Reggie?"

Casey stood and followed. The fog parted around them, and beneath it Casey could see a trail of blood. 

"Reggie, I'm sorry, I-"

"STOP."

She did. She stopped and watched Reggie hunch over, hiding herself from view.

"I can't control it. Just stay away!"

Casey didn't move. She winced at the sobs from her friend, but stood resolute.

"I'm here for you, Reggie."

She did her best not to let her voice shake, but she shivered all the same. Waves of fear washed over her, biting and cold and wriggling. But she knew this fear. It was artificial. Not fake, but artificial. She forced her mind through it.

She took a step forward, and her stomach turned inside out. Foul smells punched through her nose, of rot and decay and month old death. She forced her throat calm, kept herself from vomiting. She took another step. She could almost touch her, just a bit more-

An apparition appeared before her. A mirror image of herself, matching her movements. She was stopped for a moment by the visage. She was struck by it, watching its face recoil in sickness just as hers had a moment ago. A sharp pain in her heart flared as she watched this copy of her vomit, watched it spew guts and food and muck. Watched its face change, and the stubble on its chin grow into a-

She stepped through it, and it melted into the fog. Her shaking arms found Reggie, grabbed her and held her tight. She saw her skin melt away, then grow back only to be burned to cinders. She saw Reggie turn, shove her away, call her vile things. She was torn and twirled in a maelstrom of cloying terror.

But she held on. She hugged Reggie tight. And there came a moment, a pause in the storm. Like they stood in the eye of a hurricane.

Reggie's arms wrapped around Casey. Her face, wet with tears, buried itself in her neck. All the world crashed down around them, but Casey focused on Reggie. On the smell of her hair and the sobs on her chest.

"I'm sorry," came her voice, muffled by clothes and choked with tears. "I'm sorry..."

"Shh..." she whispered. "It's okay."

"I'm a monster. A freak."

"No you aren't. You're wonderful."

"I'm horrifying!"

"Maybe, to some people."

Reggie looked up. Her veil was soaked through with tears. Casey gently lifted it. For all the horrors, all the gore and the phantoms and the smells, at the heart of it all there was only Reggie.

"Looks like you drained your batteries there, huh?"

A smile with a sniffle. A weak, if honest, chuckle. A strange warmth in the chest and a jumbled but completely unfrightening feeling in the stomach. Casey was dumbstruck. Standing there, grinning down on this girl like an idiot.

"I'm not afraid of you, Reggie."

Reggie's eyes welled up again, and she buried her head in Casey's chest. They stood there for a while, and soon the fogs faded. The children and the gazebo and the benches slipped away, dashed into mist by the brisk night wind.

They were alone again.


End file.
